The Wrong Fireplace
by BlessedTorture
Summary: Aine Marina Dumbledore is strange. Very strange.


_**The Wrong Fireplace**_

"Aine! Aine! We're going to be late if you don't hurry up, young lady! You don't want to be late for your first day at Hogwarts, now do you? I know I don't want you to be. Aine! C'mon honey, hurry up!" The woman was grateful her husband wasn't around to see his daughter dawdle so. He was downstairs in the kitchen doing whatever it was that he did.

Eleven year old Aine put the last of her things into her luggage and then got up to follow her mother, leaving her bags behind her, "Yes, mama. I'm all packed now; we can leave whenever you wish to leave,"

"Good. Let's go then." With a flick of her wand, Aine's mother magically levitated all of her luggage for Hogwarts, and it followed the pair through the spacious house. Aine bobbed behind her mother, aglow with excitement about her newest adventure to Hogwarts. Her transfixing blue eyes shown brighter than usual and her gorgeous raven black hair blew bewitchingly through the air with every movement the young girl made. At eleven she was a vixen, and who knew what the future held for the young girl.

"Mama," Aine asked, stopping, "When do you think we'll get there?"

"As soon as you march, young lady. March!" The mother led the way downstairs to the chimney. She took a small handful of dust out of a flower pot on the mantle. She threw it into the fire then leaned down to Aine, "Darling, go into the fire," which was now glowing a beautiful green color, "And yell out as loud as you can, Alice Dumbledore. All right?"

"Why aren't we going to Uncle Albus' house? He's already at Hogwarts, and then I wouldn't even have to take the train you warned me about," Aine pointed out.

"Because, we aren't particularly fond of our dear Albus right now and never have been for that matter." She spoke very matter of factly as though the statement should be obvious to young Aine. Then her tone turned from information to confrontational and instructive, "You must remember that while you are at Hogwarts, love. Not only because your father and I told you so, but for your own safety. You must always remember what your father and I have taught you."

Aine accumulated the air of a very conceited and educated librarian. She even spoke in an annoying monotonous voice, "Anyone with the word half in their description should be avoided. That means half-bloods, half-breeds, even half n' half. No coffee for me at Hogwarts,"

"Exactly." Aine's mother laughed, "Now, love, it's time to go." Aine's mother pulled her close then sent her daughter into the green inferno.

As she charged into the fire with the helpful push of her mother, Aine shouted, "ALICE DUMBLEDORE," or, at least she tried to. She tripped on a piece of wood still burning in the fire place and she was falling when "ALICE DUMBLEDORE," went sounding from her perfect lips. After uttering those fateful words had left her mouth, she hit her head loudly on the back wall of the fire place and blanked out.

"Oh no!" Aine's mother shouted, "Seth! Seth! Aine tripped going into the fire, I don't think she went to Alice's" Aine's father ran to her side from the kitchen. Her voice went low, "Oh, Seth, what are we going to do?"

Seth wrapped his arm around his wife's neck possessively and no comfort was transferred in the gesture. His eyes glowed with ferocity, almost to a frightening degree, and "I daren't go after her. You know what they say about Albus. However," the glare faded a smidgeon, though he was still frightening to observe, something his wife was keenly aware of at the moment, "However, those who speak also say that my darling brother Albus would never hurt a child. We shall hope they were right, that is about the second part. Try not to worry Aryssa."

Aryssa sighed, "I wish we had never introduced her to him. There was no point; she would fear him more if he had no face. Now, she sees a kind face with twinkling eyes and a kind Uncle who made her laugh more in one hour than we did in her entire life. Seth, what are we going to do?"

"Shut up, I'm thinking."

Albus stood over the girl now sleeping soundly on his sofa. It was his niece, Aine Marina Dumbledore. He had met her once two years ago when she and her entire family had showed up impromptu on his doorstep, much like she had just done in his fireplace. Only they had all been conscious when they arrived together before now. Somehow his young nice had suffered a large bump on her forehead in her tumble that had left her helpless in his fireplace.

He surveyed the young girl, trying to keep his emotions down. In the two years since he had last seen her she had grown a lot. He remembered the short time they had spent together in what seemed so long ago. She was eight or nine years old and a fireball of a child. Her parents had trouble keeping her down. They had brought her to his humble abode to instill the fear they felt towards him into their daughter. Fortunately for him, or unfortunately for them, she had taken a liking to him, and he to her. The few short hours she was here with him, he had taken her under his wing, allowed her to run wild, he had let her show a side her parents never got to see. Now, he saw that she had grown quite a bit, if only in appearance. Unfortunately, the only way to really tell how much the girl had aged emotionally and mentally was to look into her eyes, and for the moment they were peacefully shut due to the concussion she had suffered.

Albus walked over the sleeping figure and gently pushed her shoulder for the third time since her arrival. He whispered quietly, "Aine? Annie? Are you all right?" and once again, as before, there was no verbal reply. This time however, she stirred slightly and rolled onto her side, one small arm dangling daintily and quietly off the edge of his sofa.

Albus pushed her fragile looking arm back onto the sofa and rocked back onto his haunches to rummage through his mental arsenal of spells that could awaken the young girl, so that he could send her back to her parents. They certainly would not be pleased with her having arrived here randomly so close to the time she had to be at Kings Cross to get to school. She had been accepted to Hogwarts this year.

Aine stirred again, and this time her eyes opened slightly. Albus moved himself into her line of vision and smiled, hoping to coax her out of her sluggishness without the use of magic, he wanted only to use sensory perception; it was safer. The after effects of his healing spells hadn't been entirely eliminated at this point in time. Thankfully, however, she smiled back and opened her blue eyes all of the way.

Those eyes really were quite stunning. The blue color was enough to throw any one off balance, the way they beamed with a golden emotion in light and glowed with a gorgeous radiance in the dark. It was enchanting and beguiling. They were normally the color of the ocean at dusk, the color of the water in Hawaii, the rarest of colors, but sometimes they changed with her mood. They only changed with very intense moods, however. What really was bedazzling, what really gave her eyes the flair they possessed was the way they focused on you or whomever she was speaking with. She stared though you, into you, all the while making you feel at home and safe with her.

Albus himself had often been accused of having the same eyes, though few actually knew his niece. People who knew Albus often told him how off setting his blue eyes were; the difference between his and his nieces however was the color. Albus' were a very light blue, unlike Aine's whose were darker, and if it was possible, clearer. They were the only two in the family who had inherited them from some unknown and obviously intriguing common ancestor.

Aine shook of the remaining after effects of her being unconscious, and then looked back at a reserved Albus, a frown replacing her previous beaming smile. "I'm not supposed to be here you know. My mom told me to say Alice, and I did say Alice. I told my mom we should come here instead of going to Alice's though. You're already at Hogwarts; it would make things easier if I just came here. But she insisted." Aine's voice was clear and precise. "That's why I'm here, I'm sure. Because I wanted to come here. I thought coming here would be better … and …" She paused, Albus was intrigued. Aine's voice lost its clarity and sped up quite a bit, "I mean, I … I thought it would be better … you're already there … here … How do I get home?" She finished avoiding Albus' eyes, her own brow furrowing and she obviously remembering her parent's warnings against the evils of the Albus Dumbledore.

He smiled, attempting to mask all the hurt which showed in his all revealing eyes. His niece was the only member of his family who hadn't grown to despise him _completely _yet, however it looked as though she was on a fast tract to the same destination of loathing that her family was currently residing in. "Well, I could send you home via Floo Powder, but seeing as you're already here at Hogwarts, I see no reason to. That is, unless you really wish to." Albus was shocked at the words that just came out of his mouth; her parents would kill him for this, as soon as she took his blasted Floo power and got home, which he was positive she would do. What else would she do?

But a strange look began to cross her face, the look of intense contemplation. She was actually considering just staying here and not going back to her parents. And why should she? There was no reason for her to go back home just so she could end up back here at Hogwarts. Her blue eyes sparkled, "I suppose … well why not? My parents can't do anything now that I'm here, can they?"

That sentence was the last thing Albus expected out of her mouth, rebellion was something he never expected in Aine. "No, I suppose they can't." He smiled, looking forward to spending some quality time with his niece with out her blasted parents around. 

"Aine isn't here is she?" Aryssa strode through the fire into Alice's apartment purposefully, "She's gone! Just gone! She ended up at Albus' and I'll never see her again. I just know it. That crazy, insane man is going to eat my little girl or do something equally as horrible to her."

Alice tilted her head, listening to her sister in law, "Albus? Albus Dumbledore? How did she end up there?"

"She fell going into the fire, and like the little moron she is, she was saying the name as she ran into it. That little girl has no time for patience I'm telling you that much." Seth spoke as he dusted his pants free of the remnants of both fireplaces he had walked through.

"Now don't say that about her Seth," Aryssa said frantically, "If you start talking like that she'll never come home. Why would she? Why would she want to?"

"Oh, shut up. No one asked you your opinion, and she's not here to hear me, is she? This is your fault, by the way. That girl has always been so damn naïve, and gotten away with it! When she does something wrong, especially without realizing it, she doesn't get in trouble. She's so naïve, too naïve for my child. I blame you; I've always blamed you, but you know that. I've told you enough times. We should have punished her from day one for being too damn curious for her own good! She's too quick, too impatient for someone her age. She has a name to live up to, a bloodline to live up to, and she's not doing it by running into fireplaces blindly and shouting the wrong name! I would never do something like that."

Alice spoke up at this point, interrupting her brother's rant, "Seth! Don't you dare talk to your wife that way in my presence, you sick twit! This is my house, and in my house you will treat everyone with respect, regardless of their location. Your daughter is a beautiful girl, absolutely gorgeous, you know this. But for god sakes, she's a child! A CHILD! Children don't know how to control themselves, children will be children, and if you were to try to break that spirit, you would have ended up with someone far worse than the Aine we know now. All we have to do is wait for her to come home, it won't be long now."

"And when she doesn't? When she decides to stay with that blasphemous, stupid, evil Albus? Then what? I kiss my prodigy goodbye, that's what. I kiss my only bloodline adieu. I kiss my freedom farewell. Alice, you as well as anyone in this room know what I've taught that girl, what I've tried to teach her. She is supposed to be the most talented witch in the world right now, and she would be if she focused. But that's beside the point now; she knows spells she shouldn't know. She has seen things she isn't 'supposed,' to have seen, she knows more than she's 'supposed,' to know, Albus is bond to find out." He spoke with distain for Albus, with his voice showing what he thought of his brother's authority as a teacher at Hogwarts. His authority as a human being. 

"Seth, I know that you are still mad about the 'incident,' with Albus. We all are, however, you can't let your anger get in the way of your judgment. You're turning into a madman! He was bound to find out when she went to Hogwarts, the fact that she's there now doesn't make any difference."

Silence filled the room after Alice spoke. Seth spoke icily, "You're as bad as he is. I have no reason to consider you family any longer, Alice. I thought you were on our side."

"I am on your side!" She shouted, "I'm on your side until you start teaching your defenseless daughter how to murder people before she's 11, and then expect her to keep it a secret. It's a wonder she turned out all right, if it wasn't for your wife you'd have one screwed up kid on your hands. Yet, you treat your wife, your savior I might add, worse than you treat you daughter." She paused thoughtfully, "You know what, and I don't want to be your family. We have the same cause, Seth. We want the same thing, we just go about it different ways. I have no reason to consider someone who robs his own child's youth family. I will succeed in what we have set out to do, and I will do it without you. Someday Seth, your world is going to implode because of the way you treat those you call family. I don't _want _to be your family anymore. Have a good life and get out of my house. Now." The last word was final; there would be no changing her mind.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Come Aryssa, we're leaving." Aryssa's eyes shot to Alice, and then back to Seth. She resembled a deer stuck in headlight with striking similarity. She silently pleaded with Alice to help her out of this, yet silently pleaded with Seth at the same time to save her as well. 

"Aryssa, you're always welcome to stay here, loath as I am to give your husband an excuse to 'Visit,' any time he wants. You know this."

Aryssa nodded, but then Seth grabbed her arm and pulled her into the fire shouting, "Home," as he walked. He had the same demeanor Aine had had when she walked into the fire back home. Aryssa's brown eyes brimmed with unshed tears. 

Albus was at a loss. He had no idea what to do with the young girl now sitting pleasantly on his sofa, waiting for him to suggest something. She was quite different than she had been only a moment ago; she was very happy with herself and her decision to stay here instead of going back to her family. 

However, there was a slight flaw in this turn of events. It wasn't exactly considered completely kosher to just have a student show up at Hogwarts via Floo powder. It showed a bit of favoritism, and was highly frowned upon, especially when it was family. There were a few cases, of course, where students had no way to get to Kings Cross so Floo powder was used to transport them to Hogwarts, when Dumbledore was a student, he was one of those cases. This was an entirely different matter however, and Professor Dippet would need to be consulted, as the headmaster, he had the authority to allow Aine to stay.

"Before we do anything, Aine, I need to take you to see Professor Dippet, our headmaster."

"Why?" she asked quizzically.

"Well," Albus said, picking himself up of the floor beside the sofa while Aine stood up off the sofa, "It's up to him whether or not you can actually stay. I'm sure he'll let you, but we still need to ask." A bright twinkle danced in Albus' eyes and Aine wasn't quite sure what it meant. "I'm sure one way or another you'll be able to stay, my dear girl." 

"Um. Ok." Aine decided to go along with whatever it was Albus had planned and she followed the tall man out of his apartment and into the halls of Hogwarts.

She was in awe. The entire school appeared very large to her and she tried desperately to take it all in; her actions were not lost on Albus. He saw how she surveyed her surroundings, much like he had when he was a first year at this very school. Pleased that she was bright enough to actually try to take in her surroundings, Albus finally arrived at the headmaster's office.

Smartly, he walked up to the gargoyle and said, "Agricola,"

"What does that mean?" Aine asked.

"Farmer," Albus answered "In Latin," and the gargoyle sprung away from the entrance and he and Aine made their way up the spiral staircase into Dippet's office.

"Ah, Dumbledore, good man, how are you? Come, come, sit." Professor Dippet's words didn't match his feeble voice or his feeble looks. He gave off the impression of someone trying to hard to impress, but Albus took it into stride, walking into the office with Aine behind him and settling both her and himself into two large red chairs across from a large oak desk in the middle of the room.

Aine briefly took in the room; nothing was really there. The only things of real interest were the portraits of various people that lined the walls. Following her gaze, Albus said, "Those are old headmasters, Dippet will be up there someday." Aine couldn't imagine the faltering Dippet up on those walls, but she smiled anyway.

"Well, Albus. Who is this young lady you have brought with you to see me?" 

"She's my niece. She was attempting to use Floo powder to go to my sister, Alice's house, and from there to Kings Cross. She's a first year, you see. She tripped in the fireplace and hit her head and somehow ended up here, in my fireplace. I know that it's highly unusual, but I was wondering if instead of sending her home, she could just stay here. I'll watch her, and then when the rest of the school arrives, she can just be sorted with the other first years." Dippet's mouth opened and shut quickly, and he eyed Albus beadily.

"You're right, this is highly unusual. I didn't know you had a niece." Dippet wrung his hands for a moment, then, "Oh, I suppose it would be all right. It is you after all Albus." He seemed still to be uncertain of his decision, but Albus took it anyway and strode mightily out of the office, Aine running behind him to keep up. They walked down the spiral

Albus was pleased with this turn of events; however he had no idea what he was going to do. Albus had just gotten himself into a situation he wasn't quite sure how to handle, having to take care of an 11 year old girl for a couple hours. He wasn't used to babysitting a young girl. Baby sitting anyone for that matter was almost beyond him. Well, almost beyond him.

Then, an idea hit. Albus held his hand out to his niece, "Aine, I'm going to take you on a tour of Hogwarts before the rest of the student body gets here. This way, you'll be way ahead of the masses, as they will expect you to be, seeing as how you are my niece after all."

"Is it true there are really hidden passages here? Secret rooms? Hidden hallways? Stuff like that?"

Albus laughed, glad that all traces of fear and confusion had left her face. She was once again the small girl he had admired two years ago; she was once again a child. "Absolutely, though many of those I'll leave for you to find on your own." 

Her face fell, and then perked up again, "Fine. But you owe me one or two for having your fireplace knock me out."

A smile rose into his cheeks and he nodded to his exuberant niece, "It's a deal," He knew full well it wasn't his fireplace that had knocked the poor girl senseless, and she knew it as well. However, the excuse to show off some of his knowledge was too much to resist. "Let's start by leaving the room."

Aine giggled, pleased to be beginning a new adventure, one much different than she had been expecting just this morning. For a moment her mothers faced flashed into her mind, but Aine pushed the woman aside. It wasn't her she didn't want to go home to.

A/N : This is something I just wrote in the middle of the night one night when I was really bored and I felt to dark to write in The Long and Short of It. I've decided I like it enough to post it, however, I'm not sure if I want to continue it. If you like it, please leave me a review. If people like this, I'll continue it, it would be fun … don't worry I'll keep The Long and Short of It going as well, I really like that story, but I think it would be fun to do this one too. Any way, thanks!

Love ya'll …


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